


just friend things

by flying_snowmen



Category: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: F/M, have 5600 words of peter and michelle being painfully oblivious, non explicit description of sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-10
Updated: 2017-08-10
Packaged: 2018-12-13 13:24:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11760804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flying_snowmen/pseuds/flying_snowmen
Summary: Peter doesn’t bring anything up at dinner even though May is giving him some serious side eye and can’t stop looking at him with that contemplative look of hers. And then, while he’s washing the dishes and handing them to her to dry, she asks, nonchalant as she can manage, “So when did you and Michelle start dating?”“MJ and I are just friends.”Or, a story in which Peter and Michelle insist that they are just friends, to the belief of no one around them.





	just friend things

**Author's Note:**

  * For [youheldyourbreath](https://archiveofourown.org/users/youheldyourbreath/gifts).



> This was strongly, strongly inspired by a conversation I had on tumblr with [ this person ](http://spideyxchelle.tumblr.com). It was meant to be a joke but then it turned into an actual fic, so here you go! I hope you enjoy!
> 
>  
> 
> Also, this was read over by two people, but not really for grammatical errors, so let me know if you spot anything!

i. the thing with the movie night cuddling  


It all happens a bit suddenly. One Thursday, Michelle is sitting at the end of the table, reading O _f Human Bondage_ and decidedly _not_ listening to Peter and Ned as they talk about how excited they are about marathoning the Harry Potter movies this Saturday. Then the next day Michelle sits down across from them and asks what time she should be over at Peter’s place. And: “What? I like Harry Potter.” And that’s how Michelle joins their every other week movie marathons. (They’re all taking AP classes, they don’t have time for weekly movie marathons right now.)

What makes less sense to Ned is when exactly Peter and Michelle started to _cuddle_ at their every other week movie marathons. It starts out subtly. Bodies lined up neatly next to each other. Then a head resting on someone’s shoulder. Then an arm over someone’s shoulders. And then, before Ned can even take the redvines from his backpack, Peter is sitting at one end of the couch while Michelle lies down across it, head in his lap and feet up on couch arm across from Peter. (Damn her legs are long.) And Ned’s just. What the _fuck_ , guys?

But Peter and Michelle seem to think everything is fine. When Ned questions it, they just exchange a look, Michelle extending her neck and Peter glancing down. Then they look back at him and Peter shrugs. “It’s comfortable. Besides, we’re friends.” Yeah, _sure_. Because Peter and Ned put their heads in each other’s laps _all the time_.

But Ned leaves it be. He doesn’t bat an eye when Michelle giggles, Peter trying to stuff popcorn into her mouth, eyes bright as she smacks him on the shoulder. Ned just keeps his eyes focused on the movie playing because he doesn’t have time for this set of _friends_.

ii. the thing with their hair

It starts with Michelle, really. Peter’s lying down, his head on her lap this time as _Casablanca_ plays on the television. (They’re doing a Turner Classic Movies marathon this Saturday.) And then all of a sudden he feels pressure on his scalp and Michelle is running her hands through his hair. When he moves to look up at her, her eyes do not meet his. She’s got her own trained on the movie screen as Humphrey Bogart tells Ingrid Bergman to board the plane or she’ll regret it for the rest of her life. And so Peter goes back to watching the movie. Because her fingers feel nice and it reminds him of when his mom would play with his hair when he was a kid.

And then it happens again on the bus to an academic decathlon competition. Peter’s lying his head down on Michelle’s shoulder and she reaches her hand up and starts rubbing his scalp, no big deal. And they’re _friends_. So it’s all good. She’s doing him a solid because she must have realized that he really likes having his hair played with.

Then a few weeks later, they’re both in the library at lunch today because Ned has a doctor’s appointment and got to leave school early. And MJ’s reading _The Bluest Eye_ and Peter can tell she’s super into the book because some of her hair has fallen into her face and she hasn’t pushed it away. She only does that when a book _really_ captivates her. So he does her a solid and stands so he can reach over the table and brush her hair behind her ear. So that she doesn’t have to take her attention away from the book and then her hair isn’t in her line of sight. She glances up for a second, smiles, and says, “thanks, Parker” before going back to Toni Morrison.

iii. the thing with the naps

Peter doesn’t really think anything of it when Michelle groans mid-Calculus study guide and declares, “I’m taking a break.” And by break, she apparently means nap. Because she walks over to Peter’s bed and pulls his covers back, climbing in and turning on her side. Peter doesn’t think anything of it because Ned sleeps over all the time. Granted, when Ned sleeps over, he does so in the top bunk. Not the bottom bunk, which is exclusively reserved for Peter when it comes to sleeping. But this isn’t that much different, so Peter doesn’t think anything of it.

Two weeks later, when Peter’s the one who needed a break and is tucked away under his covers, he hears Michelle groan again. The pads of her feet indicate walking and then the covers are being pulled back and Michelle’s whispering out, “scoot over, loser, I need a break, too.” So Peter scoots over. Because Michelle is his friend. And friends help each other when they need to take a break.

So Peter and Michelle start taking naps in Peter’s bed. Sometimes together. But it isn’t really a big deal. Nor is it when, two days later, Peter climbs into bed because he can’t take reading any more about the Antebellum Era. And when Peter wraps his arm around Michelle’s waist, she snuggles back into him. But that’s only because they’re both stressed and it’s November and it’s cold and they’re friends. So they help each other out.

iv. the thing with the backrubs

They’re already cuddling when they take naps together, so giving each other backrubs doesn’t really feel like too much of a step up to them. One day they’re taking a break from AP Biology (because, _honestly_ , how are they supposed to spend so much time learning about microtubules and the role they play in mitosis, specifically metaphase). Peter is lying down with half of Michelle’s body sprawled across his. And then he feels her hands on his face and she’s running her fingertips all over his face, across his closed eyes and over his nose and around his lips. Her touch is feather light and it makes him drift further and further into restfulness because it all feels so intoxicatingly good. But before he lets himself fall asleep, he runs his hand up her back, under her shirt, and starts to do the same thing on her back. Those feather light touches, using his nails occasionally and creating patterns. He even writes words and draws a spider and some Lewis structures for the hell of it. But then they’re both snoring and asleep.

When they wake up, May is standing over them, cheeks slightly pink, as she tells them that Michelle’s parents are here to pick her up. So Michelle just gets up, grabs her stuff, thanks both of them and heads off. And Peter doesn’t bring anything up at dinner even though May is giving him some serious side eye and can’t stop looking at him with that contemplative look of hers. And then, while he’s washing the dishes and handing them to her to dry, she asks, nonchalant as she can manage, “So when did you and Michelle start dating?”

“MJ and I are just friends.” And May leaves it at that. But then she walks into Peter’s room when he and Michelle are supposed to be studying and Peter is sitting on top of Michelle’s ass and rubbing deep into her shoulders and she’s making moaning sounds and so May can’t hold her tongue.

“Peter!” Both of them whip their heads around to look at her, eyes wide and innocent. “What-“ she takes a deep breath, looking at the ground. “What are you doing?”

“I’m giving MJ a backrub. She’s really stressed about our English essay and she’s carrying all the tension in her shoulders.” And he says it as if that should be _obvious_. And, you know, May was 17 once. She’s not an idiot. But she decides to leave this be. Because she thinks that maybe, for once, Peter’s the one who’s oblivious this time.

v. the thing with the nakedness

This one happens almost by accident. Peter and Michelle get caught in a rainstorm while they’re walking back to his apartment to study. They’re laughing and joking around as they get into the building and when they reach Peter’s room, he doesn’t think anything of it when he pulls the wet t-shirt that’s stuck to his skin over his head.

Michelle is briefly confronted with the very real sight of Peter’s abs in all their glory. She _knew_ he had them. She’s been pressed up against them in the past as they’ve taken their naps. But now she’s seeing them. But she’s just observing the aesthetic appeal of them. And, well, she justifies that she’d tell any of her friends when they looked good, so she allows herself this one comment: “Damn Parker, you’re keeping it tight.”

And Peter ducks his head, suddenly realizing that he’s half naked in front of her. “Thanks, MJ. I do my best.” And that’s that. Suddenly Peter’s allowed to be shirtless in front of her and it’s fine because they’re just best friends and Peter’s been shirtless in front of Ned countless times before so it really doesn’t matter. Nor does it matter if he’s in his boxers in front of Michelle because he’s been in nothing but his boxers in front of Ned before. So it doesn’t matter if he’s in his boxers in front of Michelle because she’s also his best friend. That’s just basic logic.

And with that logic, it should also mean that it shouldn’t matter if Michelle isn’t fully clothed around him either. But, still, when Michelle strips off her jeans before climbing into Peter’s bed for one of her naps, Peter takes a large gulp from his desk chair and tries to keep his face neutral. But it’s fine. They’re best friends. So this shouldn’t matter any more than him being in his boxers.

So, naturally, it follows that it shouldn’t really matter if when Peter and Michelle nap together, Michelle’s taken her pants off and is only in an undershirt and her underwear while Peter is only in his boxers. It really shouldn’t because they already nap together and they already don’t need to wear all their clothes around each other. So napping with less clothes is the next logical step. Besides, it’s more comfortable because it doesn’t get too hot and they’re friends so it’s all good.

After one of their half-naked naps, Peter and Michelle wake up to find Ned standing next to the bed, glaring down at them. “Dude, what’s up?” Peter asks, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with the hand that isn’t currently wrapped around Michelle’s shoulders.

“I hate you both.” Ned says, peeved. “I hate you both so much.”

“Dude, what the fuck?” Michelle asks, rolling so that one of her arms is thrown over Peter’s bare chest.

“You two are entirely too stupid and I can’t take it anymore.” With that, he turns around and leaves to go back to his house because, _honestly_ , he can’t deal with _just friends_  Peter and Michelle.

vi. the thing with the drawings

Michelle usually likes to draw people when they’re in distress. But, well, if you have best friend who looks like Peter does without a shirt, you can’t just let that opportunity pass itself up. So Peter becomes her model of sorts and she draws him a lot. He’s got abs sculpted by the gods and a jawline that just won’t quit. Sue her. So that’s how on some Sundays when her parents are at church (they’ve long since stopped making Michelle come with them), Peter will strip down to his boxers and pose in whatever way she likes. The lighting is better in her room than his, which is why they have to do it at her house. Besides, neither of them think May would be able to handle it if she walked in while Michelle was sketching Peter half naked. She wouldn’t _understand_.

So when Michelle enrolls in a figure drawing class at the local college, it only makes sense that Peter should be her model. And then when she’s given the assignment of a nude (really, it _must_ be completely nude) model, she asks Peter. Because he’s been her model this whole time and honestly, they’re both mature young people. This shouldn’t be a big deal. But she still blushes when she asks and his whole chest is pink when he takes a large gulp and pulls his boxers down. MJ does her best not to squeak because this is completely professional. He’s her friend and he’s helping her out with an assignment for this class. She’s going to get a grade on this and she wants it to be an A.

He lies down on her bed like she asks, taking deep breaths to try to calm himself down and praying to anything that her parents are gone for a long time. And then MJ starts drawing and doesn’t say a word to him the whole time. He tries to puff up a bit, flexes his abs for as long as he can, hopes on his life that he doesn’t get an erection because nothing would ruin the mood more. But this is all because he’s her friend and he wants her to do well in this class. And that’s it.

And after an hour, she’s saying she’s done for the day and they can continue again next week and there’s a _next week_? But then Michelle smiles, gentle and kind, and thanks him for his help and honestly, he’d drop his pants for her any day. _Totally platonically_ , of course. And in two weeks, when Michelle wraps her arms around his shoulders and shows him the A she got on her sketches, well, you can’t really beat that feeling.

vii. the thing with the hand holding

The rest of the academic decathlon team starts to understand Ned’s growing frustration when Peter and Michelle walk into practice, laughing with their hands locked together. Everyone does a double take. Because, well, MJ and Peter are _holding hands_. Ned just rolls his eyes, so this must be something that’s happened in the past? Nonetheless, some of the team confronts Ned after practice and inquire about the nature of their captain’s relationship with Peter who is usually so flaky. Ned just groans, shaking his head. “They’re stupid, is what they are.”

So the team leaves it at that. Until it really starts to become a habit and it feels like they hold hands whenever it’s convenient. And so, on Wednesday when they walk in holding hands _again_ , Sally confronts the two of them and asks if they’re dating. They stare at her with wide eyes. “Why do you think that?” Peter asks. When Sally looks pointedly at their joined hands, Michelle laughs.

“God, everyone needs to stop being so heteronormative. If I was holding hands with a girl, you all wouldn’t think anything of it. You would just think we were good friends.” Which, to be fair, is partly true. The team probably wouldn’t assume they were dating as soon as they did with Peter. But, in their defense, if MJ held hands with a girl as often as she held hands with Peter, they might suspect MJ was dating her. Further, if MJ acted around a girl how she did around Peter, they also might suspect she was dating the girl.

But they decide they don’t actually want to get involved in this at all, so most of them just pat Ned on the back, wishing him good luck as he deals with his two best friends refusing to acknowledge they’re practically in love with each other.

viii. the thing with each other’s clothes

One morning, Peter, Ned, and Michelle are all studying at Michelle’s house. Her parents made pancakes and cut up some fruit, so they’re all snacking. But then, when Peter is mid orange juice gulp, Michelle says something funny and he snorts and then…like, all the orange juice spills out of his mouth. He tries to keep it in so he doesn’t spit all over the table, but this only results in all of the orange juice spilling on his shirt and jeans.

Ned and Michelle spend a good five minutes sputtering on the floor, laughing and crying and clutching their stomachs. Peter waves them off and tries to wash off what he can at the kitchen sink, but it’s a white shirt and now it looks like he’s pissed himself and it’s honestly a bit uncomfortable. When she finishes laughing, Michelle waves him over and takes him to her room. She gives him one of the shirts she sleeps in and a pair of sweats. The shirt’s a bit tight on the shoulders and a little short, but it fits well enough. and with a few rolls to the sweatpants, they fit just fine. And Peter decides he likes MJ’s clothes. So he starts taking them.

He wears the shirt and sweats home. And it’s not a big deal because his clothes were in the wash at Michelle’s house and she’d return them at school. And when she did, he didn’t bring her clothes back. His only response to her confused look: “I like them.” But then he takes an oversized jean jacket from her closet. Her _favorite_ jean jacket. So Michelle mounts an offensive and steals the Avengers sweater he wears to bed, like, every Thursday. And when Peter brings it up on Friday morning when he notices it’s gone, Michelle just smirks. “I like it.”

And that’s how they start stealing each other’s clothes. and Ned is 100% more _fed up_. Because now it’s become like…some weird sort of… _territory marking_. Ned honestly isn’t sure how to describe it, but Michelle walks into school wearing Peter’s stupid “I lost an electron; are you positive” shirt. And like…Peter wears that shirt all the time, so people notice that Michelle is suddenly wearing it. And they notice that Peter’s sweater is just a bit too tight in the shoulders, more than his usual clothes are these days. And so, people stop really approaching the two of them. (And okay, so maybe not _too_ many people were approaching Peter and Michelle before because it’s so obvious they like each other. But they definitely don’t approach them when Peter’s wearing a jacket with “MJ” stitched on the upper right pocket and Michelle is wearing a Stark Industries official hoodie that falls over her shoulders. Like, it ain’t happening.) Of course, Peter and Michelle don’t really notice any difference. The only change they note is that Ned, without fail, every time he sits down at the lunch table, shakes his head and groans loudly into his yogurt.

ix. the thing with dancing

When Peter finds out that Michelle used to take dance classes, he’s on that immediately. He has her teaching him everything she can remember from ballet and jazz. Apparently, her parents had her in classes until she was ten, and they bring out all the old pictures from dance recitals with crazy costumes and crazier makeup. Peter _loves_ it. So whenever they’re alone he asks her to show him how to dance. After decathlon practice when he’s helping her clean up. In her room when they’re going over Spanish conjugations. (No, -aste, not –abas. It’s the preterit, not the imperfect, _pedro_.)

Eventually, dancing turns into fits of laughter and they end up pressed together in a semi hug, heads thrown back as they chuckle. And then, eventually, this turns into them swaying back and forth as they hold onto each other tightly. And it’s not a small thing. The two of them usually stay entwined and locked together for ten, fifteen minutes. MJ won’t admit it, but she likes the press of Peter’s chest against hers. And Peter likes to smush his face into her hair and breathe in deeply. And both of them like the feeling of being enveloped by each other. Not many people catch their dancing. But those who do just turn around and pretend they didn’t see a thing. Michelle and Peter are complicated. Let them figure everything out on their own.

x. the thing with sexual comfort

So, this one is, _perhaps_ , less platonic. It happens for the first time on a Friday night during the summer after junior year. Michelle is reading a book of poetry well into the night when, at one AM, she hears something tapping at her window. She’s terrified at first and decides not to go to the window, concentrating on the book even harder so hopefully she can pretend whatever is at her window is just a branch or bird or _something_ that isn’t a threat. And then she hears it. “MJ, let me in, please.”

And oh _god_ , it’s Peter. How did he even get up to her window? She’s on the fifth floor. But she goes to her window and he’s in red and blue spandex. And… _oh_. In retrospect, everything makes sense. But she doesn’t have time for that right now because his mask is torn and he’s got a large cut across his jaw and his eye looks bruised. So she lets him in quickly and places him on the bed. He groans, leaning back and pulling the rest of the mask off his face. She panics and wonders what to do for a moment before she runs to her bathroom and grabs the first aid kit, a towel she’s wet with warm water, and Arnicare because his bruises do _not_ look pretty.

When she arrives back in her room, he starts to pull off his suit as she washes the blood from his face. She nearly gasps when she sees his chest because there are red smatterings all over it that are quickly turning purple. She just focuses on his face and continues to clean up the cuts and apply hydrogen peroxide, despite his hisses when she dabs it on the particularly nasty jaw cut. And then he’s in his boxers and she starts applying the Arnicare to nearly every open surface on his body. When he’s sufficiently lathered, she lies down with him in the bed, cradling him in his arms as he wraps his own around her waist and rests his head on her chest.

“So,” she says after what she deems an appropriate amount of time. “You’re spiderman.”

“Yup.” He sighs, looking into her eyes. “Are you mad I didn’t tell you?”

She smiles down at him gently. “More mad I didn’t figure it out myself, honestly. You’re usually so atrocious at secret keeping.”

“Hey!” He laughs, leaning his head back down on her chest. “I’m great at keeping secrets.”

“Not from me.” She smiles. And oh, if she only knew. He barely knows himself. And then he looks up at her again and their eyes are locked. And. And he’s exhausted. He’s just fought for two hours and banged up nearly every part of his body. And. Well. There’s a warmth in her eyes that makes his heart swell. So he feels like he can’t really be faulted for the fact that he pushes himself up and looks down at her, arms on either side of her head. “Peter?”

He glances down to her lips and then meets her eyes, whispering timidly, as if scared of being burned. “May I...may I kiss you?” And she nods her head slowly, almost in a daze. So Peter starts to lean down slowly, waiting for her to push him away.

But she doesn’t. And then their lips are locked in a slow kiss. And this isn’t either of their first kisses, but it feels important. And it’s awkward and feels weird, but they both continue kissing each other until other feelings like to take over. Like how it feels when Peter moves his arms and lies down on Michelle, pressing her further into the bed. Or the way it feels when Michelle’s fingers run through Peter’s hair and _pull_. Or the way Peter’s grip tightens on Michelle’s waist. Or the way Michelle kicks one of her legs up so it’s thrown over his back and leg, pushing him further down into her.

And then Michelle feels Peter’s erection against her stomach and Peter pulls back quickly with a gasp. And they both look at each other, stunned, gulping in air as quickly as they can. And it feels like enough for today so Peter lies back down on Michelle, head on her chest and her hands running tenderly over his bruised back.

Nothing happens again until later in the summer. Michelle is in Peter’s room, trying rather unsuccessfully to write her personal statement for college applications. ( _It's best to get these done early_ , the voice of her guidance counselor constantly reminds her each time she tries to start and can’t.) And. She starts to panic a bit. She starts breathing quickly and her heart feels like it’s beating out of her chest and everything is entirely too loud and too much and then, “MJ?”

She turns around to see Peter, and she looks down at her shoulder where he’s decided to rest his hand. “Are you okay?” And she opens her mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. So he reaches down and grabs her hand, lightly tugging so she’ll follow him to his bed. And he lies down and pulls her with him, wrapping his arms around her. “Breathe with me, okay?” So she takes deep breaths with him for twenty minutes until everything calms down. And she’s tired. So they fall asleep.

When Michelle wakes up again, the sun is beginning to set and she can feel Peter’s steady breaths against her cheeks. So turns over in his arms so she can watch him. He wakes up shortly after because of the movement and smiles at her sleepily. “What’s u-,” he tries to ask before a yawn interrupts him. She laughs, putting her arm around his neck and pulling him into a hug.

She pulls back and looks into his eyes, probing. She sees something she must want because she leans in, slowly, allowing him time to pull back. But he doesn’t. And then they’re kissing. And it’s gentle and slow and _good_. It doesn’t stay weird or awkward for very long. It quickly becomes languid and enjoyable. And it doesn’t require much more than that. There aren’t roaming hands or grinding hips. They just kiss each other, hands intertwined with hair or pressed lightly against cheeks. They pull away when May announces dinner. And both feel rested and content and warm.

And neither dares to say anything about what this might mean for their friendship.

xi. the thing with…honestly at this point, they’re just being ridiculous

Peter and MJ find out they’ve gotten into MIT and Harvard, respectively, mid-December. And, naturally, they decide to celebrate by having sex. Now, before you start to get _any ideas_ , really, it was just the _natural progression_ of things. They’re both refreshing their emails, waiting for something to indicate the decisions are live. Peter yelps when he receives one and Michelle gets hers shortly afterward. And then both of them are looking at each other, jumping up and down, screaming that they got in.

And then they hug each other excitedly and then one of them, neither is really sure which, moves their head to initiate a kiss. And this time it’s frantic and invigorating and both of them are already buzzing with all the adrenaline. They quickly dispose of their clothes and fall onto the bed. And it’s only when Michelle reaches for a condom from underneath Peter’s bed. (A birthday gift May had given him earlier in the year. He accepted it, embarrassed and confused. And May just sighed. “Whenever you get your head out of your ass, I don’t want any baby Peter Parker’s running around this apartment, you hear?”)

Peter grabs Michelle’s hand as she holds the condom. (Michelle had laughed for a good five minutes when she found the stash under his bed. “Getting busy, Parker?” He had blushed and sunk further into his Physics textbook.) He takes a deep breath, hesitating for the first time since they started making out. “You should know that, uh,” he looks beside her head because he can’t bring himself to meet her eye. “You should know that I’ve never had sex before.”

Michelle reaches out to pull his cheek, forcing him to look her in the eye. She smiles, warm and nervous. “Neither have I.” And then, steeling herself and putting on a brave face. “I want it to be you.”

He smiles, heart still beating rapidly as he leans down to kiss her. “I want it to be you too.” And then Peter’s slipping on the condom and Michelle is gasping into his shoulder and grabbing his neck as she closes her eyes tightly. They move very slowly, building up to anything. And it’s probably five minutes before he’s fully inside her. But then they both start moving and Peter’s lightly biting at her shoulder and her legs are wrapped around his torso as her arms pull him closer.

And, Peter finishes before Michelle. Neither expected anything different, really. But Peter still flushes and apologizes and sputters and Michelle just laughs, grabbing his hand and guiding it down until she falls apart ten minutes later, gasping against his mouth as they kiss.

They say it takes a little over two months to develop a habit. And Peter and Michelle really do their best to make it a habit. And it’s a problem for everyone around them. Once, May walks in on the two on a Saturday in early January at one o’clock and, “Peter!” May turns around quickly, resting her hands on his door frame, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes tightly to forget everything that has happened in the last five second. “It’s the afternoon! You knew I was home!”

Peter has the decency to be at least a little bit sheepish. “Sorry, May. It’s just that Michelle was on vacation for the last week.”

Frankly, that doesn’t make May feel any better and she just closes his door, grabs her keys, and drives down to the nail salon because this boy stresses her out far too much for her own good. At dinner that night, she drops a box of condoms in front of his plate and he flushes, thanking her before running them into his room.

Then, it’s Tony’s turn. He wanted to visit Peter quickly to discuss something that was a little faulty with his suit. May lets him in and gestures toward the door to Peter’s room. Tony opens the door without a knock and then yelps, closing his eyes quickly. And then he remembers, it’s February fourteenth. He really should have knocked. “Mr. Stark!” Peter quickly pulls the covers over MJ and grabs his boxers from beside the bed, pulling them on quickly and throwing on a shirt as quickly as he can manage while still hard. Tony’s still stood at the doorway, in shock and hand over his face.

“Yes, Peter. Sorry, didn’t realize you had a guest.”

“You could have,” Peter’s voice cracks and he lets out a huff of breath. “You could have knocked.”

“There was a quick thing with the suit. It can wait.” And Tony turns around, hesitating briefly before saying quickly. “Just be safe, okay?”

“Of course, Mr. Stark.” Peter squeaks. And the door closes and Tony hears Michelle’s laughter start. He thinks he hears Peter say, “oh hush,” in response to her laughter, but he doesn’t want to stay longer than he has to. He quickly says goodbye to May and she has the audacity to laugh. Tony always knocks after that.

And then Peter accidentally butt dials Ned right before he and MJ have sex and Ned doesn’t speak to him for the rest of the weekend. On Monday, when Peter finally manages to get Ned to talk to him, he angrily tells him that Peter needs to leave him out of whatever is going on between Peter and MJ. And that they’re not just friends and they can’t keep hiding behind that title.

And…Peter doesn’t really say anything for the rest of the day. He goes through his classes, dazed and thinking about MJ and what she’s meant to him for the last two years and how she’s always been there and how she can always manage to make him happy or calm him down. And…well…they _are_ friends. She’s one of his best friends. But he cares for her differently than he does for Ned. And it starts to worry him what Michelle thinks and if she cares for him the same way.

So, the next Friday, when Michelle is pressed up against his body after he’s eaten her out, he asks, quietly, “So…are we…are we dating?”

And Michelle looks up at him, shocked. “Peter.” She says, deadpan, as she stares straight into his eyes. “Have you honestly thought we’ve just been pals since Christmas?”

And Peter smiles, leaning his head down to kiss her but it’s weird because he can’t stop smiling and then she starts laughing. And he pulls back and smiles. “I’m glad you’re my girlfriend.”

She groans, pushing her head into his neck. “I can’t believe you're my boyfriend.” And his heart soars. Because he’s dating Michelle Jones and he’s pretty positive that he’s in love with her and he’s her boyfriend and she _likes_ him. _Romantically_.

He kisses Michelle’s head because he feels pretty good about his life right now. And frankly, she’s a _great_ girlfriend.


End file.
